Friday, November 26, 2010

The Day AFTER Thanksgiving…

First of all, I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was rather cold here. Other than that, it was a nice day. My husband always smokes the turkey, and this year, he really had a masterpiece. When it came in, I tented it with foil to rest and told myself that I would take a photo of it before it was carved….then I promptly forgot all about it. Just believe me when I tell you it was a beautiful bird!

But today is a new day and I want to share a couple of my day after Thanksgiving traditions. The first one causes my husband to gag. He dreads this day. He doesn’t understand how the kids and I could eat this:

What is it? Well, the kids and I call it a GLOB (Gobbler Left-Over Bowl). In a bowl, you add a little cornbread dressing, some mashed potatoes, some peas (bought JUST for this dish), a little chopped turkey, and gravy. Cover and heat in the microwave. Then enjoy! While I like Thanksgiving dinner, I LOVE my next day GLOB! My hubby says really not nice things about it and absolutely refuses to try it. He doesn’t know what he is missing!

Tradition #2:

Now this one Man likes! A LOT!!! The carcass from our bird starts the process of becoming Turkey Noodle Soup.

Just throw the carcass in a LARGE stock pot. Toss in some celery stalks, a medium onion that has been cut into large chunks, a bay leaf, and some thyme (dried or fresh). Pour 1 1/2 to 2 gallons of water into the pot. Turn the heat onto medium and wait a heavenly aroma to fill your kitchen. After a few hours, remove the carcass (it has usually fallen apart) and strain the broth into another, not quite as large, stockpot. Pick the meat from the bones and/or from the strainer and put it aside. Chop some celery stalks and carrots and add to the stock. Season the stock, as desired. Some suggestions: salt, pepper, more thyme, parsley…even a little leftover poultry seasoning. Bring the stock to a boil and throw in a couple of handfuls of egg noodles (or even rice….that sounds good…may do rice myself instead of noodles)…I “guesstimate” the amount of noodles based on how much stock I end up with; stir and reduce heat slightly. You want to keep it at a low boil. Once the noodles are almost done to your taste, put the turkey meat into the pot. Continue cooking until the noodles (or rice) are done and serve.

Even if you don’t want soup today or tomorrow…go ahead and make stock. It can be frozen for later use.